Coconut, Chamomile & Lavender Soothing Scrub

This is Norah. She's adorable.

And has eczema.

Many people are of the belief that eczema has undetermined origins, and that it is uncurable without the aid of a perscription. Through LOTS of research and elimination dieting, we have learned that Norah's rash comes from eggs and dairy. This particular breakout was from almost two weeks ago when I had Indian food and took a unknowing abso-freakin-lutely damn good bite of paneer cheese. Symptoms can take up to a week to show up and up to three weeks to calm down.
In the meantime, Norah's left with red, cracked, pusing, sometimes bloody, scabby, easily infected sores on her face :[ I've been cleaning her face with colloidal silver to prevent or cure infection, and coconut oil to sooth/moisturize. But, it just isn't enough of a soother as I'd like. Norah often is kept up at night by scratching her itchy face, so I found out that chamomile and lavender are both natural soothers. Any good quality essential oils that I've found are just too expensive so I'd given up. UNTIL I had a brilliant idea-TEA!! So last night I started experimenting after buying some tea from central market. Here's my recipe for an amazing lotion/scrub/smelly good concoction to sooth, lightly exfoliate, reduce redness and reduce swelling for your little one's rash.
Note ***I ain't got my medical degree. Or any degree as a matter of fact. Don't ever put anything on your child's skin that they have an allergy to [I do know some babies who are allergic to coconut oil], and always consult your family health care provider before making any changes in your baby's health :]

What you'll need:

• Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil
• Organic Chamomile & Lavender tea from Traditional Medicinal
• spoon & bowl to stir ingredients together
• container to keep your finished product in

I cleaned out an old Burt's Bees hand creme jar, but I'm sure a baby food jar or even tupperware container would work great :] Just make sure to clean it out REALLY well!

I found that for every tea bag you use, four teaspoons of cold coconut oil are needed. Sidenote- DON'T microwave or otherwise heat up your coconut oil to "get it out of the jar." Just spoon it out! Every time it heats up, it's nutritional value goes down. Coconut oil is ideal to use because of how lotion-like it already is. It will melt some while you are using it, then when it cools down in the jar it becomes solid and doesn't separate from the tea :]

Pour in your tea over your oil [I used two tea bags and 8 teaspoons of oil to fill my jar]

Stir well until there aren't any lumps in the oil and the tea looks evenly incorporated :]

Spoon into your container

 Now apply to your cute little baby's cheeks and let them play. They don't have to be naked, but it's preferable for cute pictures.

Leave on...well, I just left it on her all night last night, but for this I left it on for 30 mins or so. I could tell immediately that the swelling went down, all of the dead skin was gently exfoliated, and Norah was much more settled :] I think this well be a great addition to our bedtime routine!

So try it out and let me know how it works for your baby!

Happy Monday friends! Hope you had a great weekend :]
Mae

Why Are YOU Giving Parenting Advice?!

I've been meaning to write this post for a while but didn't want to step on anyone's toes or be awarded Bitchy Mom of the Year Award, and I still might, but I feel someone gotsta say it.

While at one of my Many Mommy Monthly Meetings I saw two moms that I've gotten to know in the distance talking. They both have happy, well adjusted, easy tempered kids and are pretty cool moms. I then heard one say to the other "Yeah, s/he likes it, but I've got to get him/her to stop. I was reading on 'I'm a Way Better Mom Than You' blog that s/he could end up with stunted growth" [or something ridiculous] "if s/he doesn't stop by two years." And all I could think was "...are you freakin kidding me?!? Have you SEEN her kids!?!"
It struck a chord in my heart, it irritated me deeply, nearly enraged me.
It made me flash back to Lily's pregnancy when I was listening to arguments for/against co-sleeping in the office that I worked at. Two moms were getting into it, they seemed passionate about their opposite stance, and weren't going to back down. I happened to agree with the pro co-sleeping mom and silently took her side [that's a whole 'nuther bowl of cheerios]. Not long after that she confessed to me that she used her baby to keep her husband away from her when she was too tired to have sex. WHAT?!? She was just on this tangent about what a great frikkin mom she was, for being so in tune with her family's need, but then comes back and jokes with me about "how bad" she is because she LITERALLY put her child between her and her husband. I hadn't made but a few pregnancy related parenting choices but I still asked "Why are YOU giving parenting advice?" in my head.
Fastforward to my first months of being a SAHM. I was glued to these blogs. Suddenly, I didn't know how to be a mom, but these ladies [some that I'd never even met] who have 1,000+ "blog followers" and facebook fans MUST have it figured out. It didn't matter to me that these women only had one or two kids [or that some of them were just PREGNANT, hadn't even given BIRTH!] or that their salvation was questionable at best. Suddenly, I denied my own intuition, I disregarded my gut, and forgot to bring all of my questions to God instead of leaving them in a comment form in hopes that an [often] complete stranger would answer.
It wasn't until recently that I started asking, "Why aren't the well seasoned vets with 5+ kids blogging as much? I want THEIR advice." And it hit me. Because most of them ARE PARENTING. They aren't sitting down for hours at a time every day writing about what an awesome mom they are while their kids are coloring on the walls, making pipe bombs in the bathroom, or lassoing the cat in the backyard. They know that only the important things are worth sitting down and sharing with the world.
Since this realization, I've been very intentional about who I go to with my "OH MY GOSH, IS MY BABY GOING TO DIE?!" inquiries. I have one mom with kids nearly the exact same age as my kids because if my girls are going through something, chances are, her kids have been there recently too. I also know that there are things that she is better than me at, by evidence of her kids! There's another mom who is a "newer" mom than I am. She only has one baby, a few months older than Norah, but she offers me a fresh perspective on things that I may have not thought of. Another mom I go to has SIX kiddos. They are well adjusted, spirit filled, fun kids. Their mama has obviously been doing something right! All of these mamas are God seeking, health conscience, minimal medical intervention women. I know I can go to them without questioning glares, whack medical advice, or blasphemous theories. I know that if they question me, it's to grow me, and that they have my children's well being in mind, not their ego. I also ask my mama from time to time, after all, she does know me like no one else :]

I guess what I'm getting at is this: if you are a mommy blogger, find what you're supposed to be blogging about. For about a year my blog went through an identity crisis. Am I a food blog? Am I a craft blog? Am I a parenting blog? No. I'm not. I'm supposed to be sharing what God is doing in my life in an often hilarious, sometimes tear jerking fashion. I deeply feel that if you're going to tackle something so personal and convicting as how to raise your children, you should be called by Our Father to do it. Our words are to encourage and lift one another up, not to cause your brother to sin. Worry is sin.

So long story short, this is my parenting advice on why to not listen to parenting advice ;]

Hope you're having a great week and have an awesome weekend.

I took this video of Norah last night.
There's Sesame Street in the background, dirty dishes in the sink, Lily comes in and says "FOOOOCK!" [#awesomeparenting] and Eamon share's his excitement over our daughter's poop. Just a typical night in the life ;]

Norah's Sink Bath from Mae Burke on Vimeo.

Oh, and today is day two of my Facebook detox. Only mild bouts of dry heaving and convulsions so far, but I'm doing good. Trying to not find OTHER distractions on the internet to replace facebook :]

Norah's "Nu-UH" Alarm

See this cutie patootie?

Don't be fooled. Sometimes, she uses her cuteness as a weapon to ward off future siblings.
Let me explain:
Norah is a totally different baby than Lily. When Lily went to sleep at this age, she was out. We were also exclusively cosleeping, we didn't even have a crib for her yet. Life was very different. Norah actually starts  off her bedtime in her own crib and I go get her later in the night to sleep with me so she can nurse. This is perfect because Eamon and I can go to bed and do the daily rundown pillow talk business without worrying about her waking up. We can talk about our dreams of going to Spain, laugh at how much I burned that night's supper, or even fight about how I was POSITIVE I threw that dirty diaper at the foot of the bed away earlier. Little Norah stays sound asleep.
UNTIL her "Mama and Daddy got somethin goin on" alarm goes off in her head.
At first we thought it was just...coincidence, but now, I think there is a "Three Under Three ain't happenin lady" reflex that is programmed into her.
Here's what happens:
Baby is sound asleep.
Mama and daddy laughin it up, brushing teeth, taking showers, flushing toilets, makin general noises.
Baby is sound asleep.
Car alarm goes off in the parking lot.
Baby is sound asleep.
Lily slams her door repeatedly to make sure we know she hates bedtime.
Baby is sound asleep.
There are pit bulls raping each other while a gang of illegal citizens bet the spoiled white kids if the pit babies will be blond or white. [possibly added for dramatic effect]
Baby is sound asleep.
Daddy starts kissin on mama...
Baby throws blanket 5 feet in the air as a result of "alarmed baby arms"
Snickering occurs.
Baby goes back to sleeping soundly.
Sheets rustle.
Baby grunts in disapproval.
Mama and Daddy start discussing why their sweet baby girl hates them so much.
Baby falls back into deep sleep from hearing parents defeat.
Mama thinks the coast is clear.
Baby is sound asleep.
Mama throws leg over daddy's.
Norah let's out a  "nuh-uh-UUUHHH!!!" [not added for dramatic effect. actually happened]
Mama again wonders why she waited for marriage to have sex if it's only happened twice [drastic underestimation for comic effect]

 Clearly, just thinking about it irritates her. ;]

Hope y'all had a great weekend! [don't worry, we did...eventually]
Mae

This is the part where I wait for my husband to yell at me about boundaries on the internet....blah blah blah